In Finland expecting mothers can count on a baby shower gift from the government, ABC News reported.
The women are sent a box containing items such as reusable diapers, snowsuits, and other basic needs. The box comes with a mattress in the bottom and is meant to be used as a crib.
Finnish mothers-to-be get to choose between the box, or 140 euros.
Out of the 60,000 maternity grants that are issued every year, 40,000 of them are the care packages.
"The maternity box promotes [having a separate] bed for the newborn instead of sleeping in the same bed with other siblings and/or parents," said Mika Gissler, a research professor for the Finland National Institute for Health and Welfare.
The box may seem like a strange place for a baby to sleep, but it can greatly reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
"One thing we know about baby's sleep patterns [is that] there's a connection between [Sudden Infant Death Syndrome] and sleep environment," said Dr. Dennis Rosen, the associate medical director of Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Boston Children's hospital. "You want to keep the baby on relatively firm bedding. You don't want to cover the baby up too much...you want to keep the baby on their backs."
The government has been distributing the packages since 1937 when the Maternity Grants Act was passed in an effort to lower the infant mortality rate.
In the 1930s the mortality rate in Finland was about 65 deaths per 1,000, today that number has fallen to 3.38 deaths.
Currently, 100 percent of Finland's women receive prenatal care, which is a big jump since the 1940's when only 20 percent got help.
"[The box] can be seen as a symbol of transformation from a poor agriculture country to a [richer] industrial, welfare state," Gissler said. "It also highlights that the government's will to increase the fertility in Finland and thus it can be seen...as a guarantee for future of the country."
